CHAPTER 53
The city buzzed with life around them, but inside their private estate, the world had narrowed to just Sera and Lucien.
In the week leading up to their wedding, every day was a mix of laughter, planning, and quiet stolen moments.
Sera spent hours walking through the gardens, feeling the soft breeze against her skin, and imagining what it would feel like to walk down the aisle toward him.
Every time she looked at Lucien, dark suited and impossibly composed even in moments of laughter, her heart swelled in a way that made it almost painful.
They moved through the days like a carefully choreographed dance. Lucien would bring her tea to the sunlit balcony, watching her wrap the cups, his eyes tracing every freckle, every curve, every subtle movement.
“You’re radiant,” he said one morning, his voice low, almost a growl, and Sera’s cheeks heated as she ducked her head shyly. The sound of his praise, made her pulse race.
In the evenings, they walked through the estate together, talking about the future they would build, their children, their family, and the world they wanted to rule side by side.
Laughter echoed through the halls when Lucien tried to teach Sera fencing, and she would jab at him with her wooden sword, only for him to catch her wrist and look down at her with a smile that made her knees go weak.
Each night ended in quiet moments by the fire, hands entwined, sharing whispered promises and imagining the life they had fought so hard to earn.
Even the men who served them noticed the change.
There was a light in Sera’s eyes, a kind of unshakable joy that had been missing for so long.
Lucien moved differently, less sharp and more tender.
They were ready, and the air seemed charged with anticipation, a promise that the coming wedding would not just bind them legally but emotionally, spiritually, and irrevocably.